Can we all just make up our mind!?-How people learned to accept controversial removals in newer devices(while some still refuse.... to an extent)

It was September 2016,

I was freshly graduated out of HIGH SCHOOL and beginning college..... before I abruptly dropped out embarrassingly.... then re-applied in late 2019 before starting again in 2020.

But before I started my studies in 2016, I saw news reports of the then newest iPhone that just launched into stores 

It was the iPhone 7.

This phone was to succeed the 6S series of Phones that APPLE had at the time

(I was still on my iPhone 5S at that time period.)

It was marketed to be more powerful than the 6S' of the time period as well as be more waterproof, have better cellular reception, larger cameras, all that jazz....

But it came at a huge cost:

The headphone JACK was removed, requiring the use of BLUETOOTH devices or the use of the included adapter to use your wire headphones.

While nowadays, people have learned to accept absence of the 3.5mm headphone jack in our phones..... begrudgingly,

Back in 2016, people were MIGHTY PISSED about the removal because they've been so used to plugging in their headphones when listening to music while also avoiding the latency issues with audio when using wireless headphones when playing mobile games.

The other issue at that time was that the iPhones did not support MAGSAFE charging so the only way you could charge your phone at the time was to use the lightning port in your phone.

The removal of the jack meant you could not use your headphones with your phone while charging at the same time.

Also, people stated that the use of wireless audio devices were still at their infancy while the audio reliability from lightning was still being questioned.

This really reminded people of an early mistake NINTENDO made with the GAMEBOY ADVANCE SP back in 2003 when they removed the headphone jack in favor of the charging port

While NINTENDO learned from their mistake and brought back the headphone jack in handhelds starting with the DS in 2004, then the DSI in 2009, the 3DS in 2011, the WII U GAME PAD in 2012, the original NINTENDO SWITCH in 2017, and yes, Even the NINTENDO SWITCH 2 from 2025 still has a 3.5mm headphone jack,

APPLE to this day still refuses to bring back the headphone jack in today's iPhones.

Again, while people have since moved on with their wireless earbuds, Bluetooth headphones, or their USB-C dongles,

I have a hunch that there's still a minority out there that still haven't got over the 2016 controversy. 

I was gonna end this here but ever since the PLAYSTATION Disc Discontinuation controversy announced back in CANADA DAY 2026,

I decided to touch on more about controversial removals on past devices that other companies have done and what their impact on them was.

First, lets start with IBM and their PS/2 line of Computers from 1987:

To this day, tech junkies keep LOUDLY insisting that the PS/2 was IBM's undoing that forced the company to sell their PC making business to LENOVO....

But that's not far from the truth.

While the PS/2 is indeed IBM's controversy worth talking about, the real downfall was IBM's refusal to move forward with innovations in favor of overpricing their computers so that only businesses can afford them.

The PS/2 however sold well.

But there was one overlooked issue that people don't talk about:

THE MOVE FROM 5.25" FLOPPIES

to 3.5" FLOPPIES.

IBM saw that APPLE did that with the MACINTOSH series

So IBM did the same, thinking that they'd be innovating like APPLE did....

Needless to say, DOS users did not take a liking to the FLOPPY DRIVE switch because it broke compatibility with older software due to the Floppy Drive being different from what them seasoned users were used to.

Eventually as the years went on, DOS users accepted the use of 3.5" Floppy Disks due to the increasing complexities of the software before the days of CD-ROM.

Ok but what about the time APPLE removed the FLOPPY DRIVE in favor of CD-Drives with the 1998 iMac G3?

Again, we learned to live with the changes though that wasn't without controversy at first.

Most of the Controversy was levied not just on the removal of a FLOPPY DRIVE but also at replacing APPLE's tried-&-true ADB interface with USB.

While at least the KEYBOARD still kept the DAISY CHAINING ability with their keyboards, people bemoaned the fact that their ADB mice had nowhere to plug in without the use of adapters.

PC manufacturer eMachines did however get the last laugh when they tried to copy the iMac with their WINDOWS 98SE eOne PC in 1999.

But not just that but also to mock APPLE's removal of the floppy drive and complete move to USB by having a floppy drive on the eone

as well as retaining PS/2 ports on the machine

And yes, they even let you DAISY chain the mouse to the keyboard, just like the ADB keyboards did as well as the IMAC's keyboard.

Quite the last laugh huh.....

Till APPLE sued eMachines for copying the iMac.

In the later years, We've all moved on to using USB for our Mice and Keyboard.

And we no longer use Floppy Disks in our systems even though it is proven that WINDOWS 11 still has FLOPPY DRIVE support going as far back as the 5.25" Floppies used in the IBM days.

No Lie. FLOPPY DISKS are still supported on WINDOWS 11 out of the box

Though you do need to have a CASE that supports mounting a drive

(Unless you go USB with the FLOPPY DRIVES),

you need a PCI-E FLOPPY CONTROLLER card to connect the DRIVE to your motherboard,

And use the MOLEX cables that came with you power supply.

Those migrations away from legacy ports, we've all learned to live with it....

Except for one factor which is the PS5

I'm guessing this is still ongoing, what with all the memes I'm seeing on FACEBOOK.

But for those who need a reminder, 

It was announced in CANADA DAY 2026 that SONY was planning a complete PHASE OUT of PHYSICAL MEDIA by JANUARY 2028 due to rising production costs as well as the fact that even though people still buy the DISC version of the consoles, SONY figured that People would rather buy their games digitally through the PLAYSTATION STORE.

Boy did they underestimate the heavy backlash but what made people so PISSED at the JULY 1st announcement was that it was a complete reversal of a campaign that SONY willingly used back in 2013.

Yes, I remember reading about the BACKLASH that MICROSOFT got when they unveiled the XBOX ONE back in MAY 21 2013 as I was in 9th grade in HIGH SCHOOL reading about it on both the SCHOOL's computers as well as reading it on WIKIPEDIA on my Wii-U.

The idea was that MICROSOFT wanted these CONSOLES to always be connected to the internet via your WI-FI or ETHERNET setup, that the included KINNECT 2.0 has to always be connected, and the games that were purchased would be tied to one's MICROSOFT ACCOUNT, sort of like a MACHINE I.D.

People hated the idea of always needing it to be connected online just to use the thing but others took offense to the fact that the KINNECT always being connected to the console would be a privacy concern....

But what got people PISSED OFF was that the MACHINE I.D thing would limit reselling of games because as we all know:

WE HATE DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

No seriously, DRM is CRASS to a gamer,

As if we already had to put up with the SECUROM, SAFEDISC, STARFORCE, and now DENUVO crap that permeates PC titles,

The last thing we needed was for a company to tell us we don't own games outright.

And 2013 era SONY took advantage of XBOX's fumbling's by holding a presentation that mocked XBOX's DRM policies by letting the press know that SONY will not be adopting a similar DRM approach.....

Eventually, MICROSOFT realized their mistake and on JUNE 19 2013, they announced that they will reverse their DRM approach as well as reverse their ALWAYS ONLINE approach... and they even decided to remove the requirement to have the KINNECT plugged in at all times despite it being bundled still.

Who would have guessed that 13 years later, its become a cruel irony to see what has happened at SONY when they announced their FIERCE COMMITMENT to NO FULL OWNERSHIPS for consumers just because of changing gamer purchase dynamics.

But despite things like a BLACKOUT, protests, etc.,

SONY refuses to backdown....

Part of the problem with the July 1st 2026 Announcement was that it completely strips COMPLETE OWNER SHIP of our games in favor of revocable license and that's something gamers are FIERCILY not going to support. PERIOD.

And in a similar case to how SONY used to mock XBOX for their DRM crap back in 2013, 

Companies like DOMINOES PIZZA and GOG have mocked SONY's actions in the recent days

(Though GOG's mocking approach seems to be more targeted at STEAM than SONY.)

And 4.5 months before the release of GTA VI on PS5 and XBOX SERIES X?

This does not bode well

SEE NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL....

Sums up everything we've been reading.

This has us all worrying about the current state of the gaming market, what with

EFFING SAM ALTMAN and his influence on PRIORITIZING A.I development for manufacturers instead of us consumers, which explains those STUPID high prices we now have to pay for our RAM, GPUS, and SSDs....

Excuse my RANTS an all but........

Someone needs to speak about the market conditions as it's left people like

JAYZTWOCENTS frothing,

that it's not even funny.

I'm at the cusp of FROTHING too so rather than RANT, 

I'm gonna go brew myself a cup of EARL GREY tea and DRINK.

Maybe that'll calm my nerves a bit.

And yes, 

I was inspired by a post from DAVID FARQUHAR's THE SILICON UNDERGROUND post about the IBM PS/2 regarding controversial removals on our devices, hence the mentioning of the IBM floppy disk debacle.

One of the rare chances that I borrow from THE SILICON UNDERGROUND when compared to being competitive on certain topics he hasn't covered yet. 

I'm still looking to see if he's covered topics like the ALAN KAY's laptop patent, BLISS photograph from 1996, MATTEL PATRIOT Computers, etc...

But so far, he hasn't with his own words.... yet....

I'll keep on looking.

GTA 6's Cover Unveiled+Pre-Orders commeth

As if the Cover wasn't a tip off, this is what will appear on the boxes for the game on PS5 & Xbox Series X/S.

Also, I got the news that Pre-Orders will commence on June 25th 2026.

The last game I pre-ordered was SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE back in 2018.

As a matter of fact, I still have this old video of me unveiling my then-recently purchased physical box of the game back in December 7th 2018

This was originally shot on my iPhone 6S 

which was my phone at the time.

Sure.... It's no TRAILER 3 but it's a start.

We now know what the cover will look like, and we now know when the pre-orders start coming in.

Though people are in an uproar due to the game allegedly not coming on a PHYSICAL BLU-RAY disc due to rising costs on manufacturing.....

Oh well... All my newer games have been digital purchases anyway

(I'm looking at you positively STEAM & GOG)

So I'm used to it.

Regardless, let's just hope my Cat MISO THE FELINE doesn't start causing problems for my pre-orders unlike what this Cat has almost done to Ian Thayer of TWEETERMAN287 shortly after the NINTENDO SWITCH 2 hit retail last year:

Maybe that's why ROCKSTAR wants to cease making ULTRA BLURAY DISCS of GTA 6.

They saw TWEETERMAN's YouTube & BlueSky Posts about his Cat Puppet jacking his Pre-Order receipt in a fit of rage over not being on Camera for the longest time.

DRAMA CAT........

(Knocks on Woodgrain.)

Update as of July 3 2026:

Well.... the vitriol towards the digital codes ESCALATED QUICKLY.......

July 1st which was CANADA DAY, 

SONY & MICROSOFT announced that they're serious about phasing out PHYSICAL RELEASES after January 2028 due to market research and the convenience of DIGITAL DOWNLOADS....

and......

to say that people were MIGHTY PISSED about the announcement is too gentle of a sentence.....

Happy 5th Anniversary MY OWNERSHIP OF MY PS5

On November 12 2020, Sony released their PLAYSTATION 5 Console to the masses 

But it came at a time seen as most inopportune.

The COVID-19 Pandemic was still somewhat in full force and while some business were open, MASK MANDATES were still a must as the Vaccines hadn't been deployed yet.

And to make matters worse, shortly after the PS5, Xbox Series X, Nvidia RTX 30 series and AMD RADEON RX 6000 series were released, they were all subject to supply chain issues wrought out by both the semi-conductor shortage and scalpers who bought the stock of the console and GPUS and sold them off at higher prices.

So for people like me, we could only buy these newfangled consoles ONLINE and we had to act fast before the scalpers beat us to it.

Well, it was mid-February of 2021 when I looked at the WAL-MART app on my phone and bought this baby here.

It cost me about over CA$800 due to it being a TWO-Controller bundle and not because of price increases wrought out by the aftermath of the first TRUMP Administration. 

(This was during the beginning of the Tragic BIDEN Administration)

But it was worth the 3 week wait for me indeed.

I remember getting notified by either my mother or my iPhone 11 that there was a package at the front door of my house. I stepped out and there was a bigass package at the entrance and there it was, my PS5.

I went to the kitchen and unboxed the crap out of the Console.

I was choked up because I was absolutely happy to have finally got the console after griping over the stupid scalpers and the equally stupid PANDEMIC.

And yes, All of these Photos were taken on my iPhone 11 which was my then-current phone at that time-period.

And even though I've now since upgraded to an iPhone 17 Pro Max, I still have the photos in my phone's Photo Library.

Anyway,

I hooked up the console to my then current at the time

32" RCA HDTV with a built-in DVD Player, 

pressed the power button and in came that first-time boot intro.

Using this one from YOUTUBE because the one I shot on my Iphone,

I've since lost the footage.

And throughout the Spring Break of 2021 while still Social Distancing, I played the crap out of my PS5, mostly on ASTRO'S PLAYROOM, DAY OF THE TENTACLE, KINGDOM HEARTS, etc.

By the time I installed GTA 5 on my PS5, I was about to start my SPRING 2021 Semester so I had to put part of my gaming on hold due to said ONLINE SEMESTERS.

And let's just say I'm glad I made the right decision to order my PS5 from WALMART on that FEBRUARY 2021 as that when the original revision was still available.

Why am I saying this?

Because later on around AUGUST 2021, I read that Sony replaced the original heatsink with a lighter version during manufacturing as to make the PS5 lighter to carry.

But I also seen how disgruntled people were about the heatsink change as it ran the risk of making the console run hotter than it was designed to be.

I'm glad I ordered early before they changed the Heatsink.

Original Revisions of Game Consoles are always superior to the later revisions.

That's why I never replaced by PS5 with the newer slim or Pro Revisions that have come into retail in the later years.

As for my TV Setup, I've long since changed to my 43" HISENSE A68N 4K SMART TV and my PS5 is now set to both 4K & HDR colors are also set as well.

Also what I didn't have at when I first bought my PS5 was my LG Soundbar but that's a blogpost for another time.

Update as of July 11 2026:

What I didn't mention in blogposts relating to my PS5 is that when I originally bought it, the intent was just to use it as my both my streaming box and my BLU-RAY Player.

Well, that original intent may have to come back as GAMERS are in an intense uproar about SONY's decision in CANADA DAY 2026 to cease factory-pressing new PHYSICAL game discs. 

And the vitriol continues to escalate since despite the RAGE and boycott threats by PlayStation gamers, SONY is fiercely refusing to back down from their announcement and they're even manipulating their data to solidify their push.

Now I see why people are saying that PC gaming, what with the release of the 2ND GEN STEAM MACHINE & the release of STEAMOS 3.8, is lovely this time of year.

Clash of Launch Model Video Game Consoles-Atari 2600 Vs. Sony PS5

Not a comparison with Characters but rather with Video Game Consoles.

I've had my PS5 Console since I ordered it Online via WALMART on February 2021 and waited until it finally arrived on that fateful March 2 2021.

And I have a few photos of the unboxing of said console from that time.

And all because I had to fight those stupid scalpers, I finally felt breathless in a good way when I hooked up my BRAND SPANKING NEW PS5 to my RCA TV at the time.

My original Room Layout Circa March 2021.

And just my luck that I happened to have purchased this console when they originally manufactured it with the original heavy heatsink revision.

That's right.

My PS5 Console is the original launch model as seen in these photos as it's the revision before Sony changed the heatsink in August 2021.

For those asking, 

My Launch model PS5 Console is the one with the built-in Ultra-HD Blu-Ray Drive.

I don't have any ULTRA-HD BLU-RAY movies but I have a large collection of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs in my Physical Media Collection so I'm sort of fine with that unless you can recommend me any movies on ULTRA-HD BLU-RAY.

But what's the reason for me mentioning the Atari 2600 on the main header of this blogpost?

Well it's because I like to compare the superiority of my Launch Model PS5 to the superiority of the original Sunnyvale Produced Launch models of the ATARI 2600 Heavy Sixer Revision from 1977.

Considering the rumors of the bad cooling in the Post-August 2021 PS5 models with their smaller heatsinks,

I like to compare the Launch model PS5's Heavy heatsink towards the Superior RF Colors that the Heavy Sixer generates.

I think it has something to do with the heavier RF Shield that the HEAVY SIXER uses.

Why am I making this Post?

Oh Shnizzle!!! Interrupted by the poster. Well, I'll drop the bullets.

For years since buying my PS5 Online from Wal-Mart, I wanted to make this comparison.

But ever since hearing about Rockstar's claims of having it's second trailer for GTA 6 captured on a Launch Model PS5, I finally decided to break the ice on this comparison because I actually have a Launch Model PS5 from 2021.

And yes, I intend to buy a copy of GTA 6 for the PS5.

Now if only Rockstar didn't have to delay the release to May 26 2026.....I get it's to celebrate the 91st  anniversary of Bonnie & Clyde's funeral & pay homage to the death date of actor Ray Liotta(Voice actor for Tommy Vercetti)

But is the delay gonna be worth it?

We'll see.

And I still have my original Launch Model PS5 to this day.

Here it is standing behind my current HISENSE 4K TV.

Update as of November 2025:

How Annoying.....

GTA 6 has been delayed until NOVEMBER 19 2026.

And they're using CYBERPUNK 2077's launch fiasco and the lessons learned from the disastrous GTA TRILOGY DEFINITVE EDITION from 2021 as a means to justify the delay....

Ok.

That I can take but certainly not the gamers who HATE delays with a burning passion but they also felt that using CYBERPUNK to justify the delays should not be an excuse.